Thermostatically-controlled valve mechanism



Dec. 9, 1930. J. v. GIESLER THERMOSTATICALLY CONTROLLED VALVE MECHANISMFiled 001:. 30, 1926 V Patented 9, 1930 UNITED" STATES JEAN v. emsmn, orKNOXVILLE, rmzmssnn, ASSIGNOB, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS,

PATENT OFFICE TO THE FULTON SYLPHON COMPANY, OF KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE, ACORPORA- TION OF DELAWARE rnEnmos'ra'rIcALLY-cowrnomn VALVE macrmmsuApplication filed October 80, 1926- Serial No. 145,340.

quantity of cooling medium in circulation,

and in valve mechanism of the by-pass type wherein the movement of thevalve determines the path of circulation of the cooling medium.

It isan object of this invention to provide a thermostaticallycontrolled valve mechanism of simplified construction so that the samemay be inexpensively manufactured and readily installed.

Another object of this invention is to provide a thermostaticallycontrolled valve mechanism with improved means of simplifiedconstruction for mounting the parts in cooperative relationship.

Other objects will appear as the description of the invention proceeds.

The invention is capable of receiving a variety of mechanicalexpressions, one of which is shown on the accompanyin draw ing, but itis to be expressly un erstood that the drawing is for purposes ofillustration only and is not to be construed as'a definition of thelimits of the invention reference being had to the appended claims. forthat purpose.

Referring 1n detail-to the drawing wherein the same reference charactersare emlo ed to designate corresponding parts in t figures, v Fig. 1 isan enlarged axial section of an embodiment of the present invention, and

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the thermostatically operated valve unitdetached from its mounting.

In'the form shown, 1 is a thermostat of any suitable construction andshown as composed of a deeply corrugated, expansible and collapsible,tubular metal wall. prefer- 'ably of resilient metal, and suitablysecured at its opposite ends, as by brazing or soldering, to an end wall2, designed to be secured I in fixed position, and an end wall 3,designed to move underthe expansive and contractive action of anysuitable thermosensitive medium enclosed within the same. Said end wall2 is shown asprovided with an exteriorly threaded boss 4 whereby thethermostat may be secured in fixed position, and

said boss may also be provided with a filling aperture 5, shown assealed, as by a stopper 6 and solder 7 after the thermosensitive fluidhas been introduced into the therto, as by solder, and exteriorly themovable end wall is provided in any suitable way with a stem 9 shown asthreaded at its outer end '10 for a purpose to be explained.

Said thermostat 1 is designed to be mounted in fixed position and'isshown as fixedly secured to a cap 112 which may be of any suitableconfiguration, depending upon the configuration of the parts with whichit is to be associated. Said cap 11 is shown as provided with acentrally arranged boss'12 provided with an interiorly threaded" recess13 into which the boss 4 on the stationary end wall 2 of the thermostatmay be threaded until said stationary end wall is brought up tightlyagainst the interior surface 14. Cap 11 is also provided with suitableapertures 15 for attaching thereto the cage to be described, and alsowith apertures 16 (Fig. 2) by which the unit may be mounted on ahousingor on any other suitable structure designed to receive the same.

Surrounding the thermostat 1 is a ca e 17 consisting, in the form shown,of a' ead portion 18 of enerally cylindrical formation, a base or angeportion 19, land a plurality of longitudinally extending ribs 20 whichextend between said; head portion 18 and base portion 19, and arepreferably formed integrally therewith. Sa1d;.ribs 20 are of s'uflicientsize to give the roper degree of rigidity to the structure and at thesame time leave a pluralit of openingslbetween the-same to permit ow ofthe cooling medium without undue restriction. Said base portion 19 isprovided with a plurality of interiorly threaded apertures 21 wherebysaid cage 17 may be secured over the thermostat 1 and to the cap 11,01within a recess formed in said capas shown, in any suitable way, as

by screws 22. A fluid. tight joint between the heads of said screws andthe cap is preferably provided in any suitable way, as by .theinterposition of gaskets of any suitable material.

The head port-ion 18 of the cage .17 is provided with an inwardlydirected flange 23 which surrounds an opening 24 of any suitable siZe toconstitute a valve port. The outer face 25 offlange 23 is referablymachined or otherwise suitably ormed so as to also constitute a valveseat. Preferably the flange 23 is an integral part of the cage 17 Thehead 18 of said cage 17 is also provided interiorl thereof with-'aspider composed of a centra ly arranged elongated -hub portion 26 and aplurality of radially extending arms or ribs 27 which are preferablyformed inte direction, i. e., transverse to the direction of flowthrough the port. Thereby maximum strength is obtained in said ribs witha minimum obstruction of the flow because, in conformit-y with thegeneral rules of deflection I of rectangular beams, the stiffness is inproportion to the first power of the thickness and the third power ofthe depth. At the same time, this construction permits the use of avalve disk'of minimum area for a given area of valve ort. Both of whichadvantages are of relatlvely great importance in the confined spaceavailable for devices ofthe character described.

w The centrally arranged hub 26 of the spider is provided with anaxially arranged opening 28 designed to receive and guide the valve stem9 in its rectilinear movements. Mounted onthe exteriorly threaded end 10of said stem 9 is a valve disk 29 of any suitable construction, shown asprovided with an axially directed flange 30 which is ma chmed orotherwise suitably finished to seat against the valve seat 25. Valvedisk 29 isprovided with a centrally arranged interiorl threaded hub, 31whereby said valve dis may be threaded ontothe valve stem 9. and

then secured thereon in fixed position in any suitable way, .as b prickpunching the threads. Valve dis 29 is also preferably provided with aleakage aperture 32 so as to insure some circulation of cooling mediumover the thermostat when the valve disk 29 is closed.

. the fitting. secured to the fitting as by screws through the -Assumingthat the thermostat has been assembled and charged with athermosensitive fluid to operate at a predetermined tem perature, thesame may be assembled with the elements so far described by firstthreading the boss 4 on the stationary end Wall of the thermostat intothe interiorly threaded recess 13 on the cap 11, then mounting the cage17 over the thermostat with the valve stem 9. pro-' jectin'g through thecentral aperture 28 in the spider, then securing the flange 19 to thecap 11 by the screws 22, and then threading the valve disk 29 on to thevalve stem'until it en- .gages the valve seat- 25 and, upon further romgor in conjunction with any suitable sup- 9 port. In Fig. 1a suitablefitting 33 is illustrated more or less diagrammatically. as of generallyT formation, one end of said fitting being provided with an interioraperture 34 in 'which the head p0rtion*18 of the cage 17 makes a slidingfit, and the opposite end of said fitting is provided with an aperture35 through which. the unit may be installed in Said unit may then befixedly apertures 16 engaging in suitable threaded apertures provided insaid fitting, a fluidtight joint being maintained at the surfaces 36 inany suitable way, as by the interposition of a packing. The inlet to thefitting is illustrated at 37.

It is to be understood that the thermostat employed. maybe of anysuitable character temperature, to the end that if a leak occurs in thethermostat, the equalization of themternal and external pressures willresult in the thermostat expanding to "open the valve.

The valve disk may also be'made of any suitable area with respect to theeffective area of the flexible wall of the thermostat; it may be made ofsuch size, for example, that there is an unbalanced pressure ofv the ciiculating fluid thereon which will tend to move the valve to safetyposition upon the occurrence of a leak in the thermostat. w

The cage 17 heretofore described is preferably made as a casting,although this is not essential; as it 'iswithin the contemplation of thebroader aspects of this invention to make the cage of other material,the construc-: tion of the ribs 27 of the spider in the form heretoforedescribed enabling suflicient strength and rigidity to be obtained evenwhen the parts are formed of sheet metal.

In operation, the thermostat 1 is contracted so as to hold the valvedisk 29 against its seat 25 and prevent circulation of the coolingmedium through the fitting 33, except for such slight circulation as isafforded by the leakage aperture 32,. until said medium has reached thattemperature at which the thermostat is designed to operate, whereuponthe thermostat 1 will expand and withdraw the valve disk 29 from itsseat 25 to permit the circulation of cooling medium through the port 24,the extent of the circulation being determined by the extent of openingof said valve. If the temperature continues to rise the thermostatcontinues to expand until the valve is wide open. In order to form apositive limit to the extent to which the thermostat may expand, theinner end of the hub' mostat is so charged that the pressure interiorlythereof is less than the exterior presv sure at all temperatures belowthe operating temperature of the thermostat, the equalization of theinterior and exterior pressures,

- as upon the occurrence of a leak, will result in an expansion of thethermostat to open the valve. This opening action may be aided by anunbalanced pressure of the circulating medium on the valve disk, or suchunbalanced pressure may be alone relied upon to eflect the opening ofthe valve upon the occurrence of a leak.

It will therefore be perceived that a simple thermostatically operatedvalve unit has been provided which is inexpensive to manu- I factureandinstall and which, at the same time, is strong and durable in'construction and accurate and eflicient in operation.

While the embodiment of the invention illustrated onthe drawing has beendescribed with considerableparticularity, it is to be expresslyunderstood that the invention is not restricted thereto, as the same iscapable of receiving other mechanical expressions, some of which willnow readily suggest themselves to those skilled inthe art, while changesmay be madein details of construction, arrangement and proportion ofparts without departing from the spirit of this invention. Reference istherefore to be had to the appended claims for a definition of theinvention.

What is claiined is:

1. In a device of the character described,

in combination with a fitting having a pair of alined apertures therein,a thermostat, a valve' stem and a valve disk operatively con nectedthereto, and a-cage for said thermostat composed of a head ortionadapted to be inserted through one 0 said apertures and to fit withinthe other of said apertures and a' base portion connected to said headportion by longitudinally extending ribs, said head portion havin anintegral valve stem guide and an inwar ly a valve seatfor said valvedisk.

2. In a device of the character described,

in combination with a fitting having a pair of alined apertures therein,a thermostat, a valve stem and a valve disk operatively condirectedflange constituting nected thereto, and acage for'said thermostatcomposed of ahead portion adapted to be inserted through one ,of saidapertures and to fit within the other of said apertures and a baseportion connected to said head portion by longitudinally extending ribs,said Y head portion having a valve port opposite said thermostat and aspider integrally connected with-said cage, said spider havin a central-1y arranged -hub forming a gui e for said valvestem.,

1 3. In a device of the character'described, in combination with athermostat, a valve disk operatively connected thereto,a ca'ge for saidthermostat detachably connected thereto and having an open end adaptedto receive and be telescoped over said thermostat and provided at itsopposite end with a valve port, a valve stem guide centrally arranged inthe plane of said port, and relatively deep i a narrow arms connectingsaid guide to said i- -cage.

4. In a device of the character described,

in combination with athermostat, a valve 3 disk operatively connectedthereto, a cap to which said thermostat is secured, and a cage for saidthermostat secured in a recess of said cap at one end and provided with.a

valve port at its op osite end.

5. In a device 0' the character described, in combination with athermostat, a valve disk operatively connected thereto, a cap to whichsaid thermostat is secured, a cage for said thermostat provided with aflange at I one 'end' and a valve port at its opposite end, and meansfor detachably securing said flange to said cap. 3

6. In a device of the character described, in combination with athermostat, a valve disk .operatively connected thereto, the stationaryend wall of said thermostat being provided with a threaded boss, a caphavin an interiorly threaded recess in'which said oss 1s secured, and acage for-said thermostat secured to said cap at one end and providedwith a valve port at its op site end. 7. In a device of the c aracterdescribed,

in combination with a thermostat, a valve disk and stem operativelyconnected thereto,

- a tubular cage of cast metal for said thermostat adapted to telescopeover said thermostat and aving an integrally continuous head portionprovided with a valve port and an integrally formed inwardly directedflange around said port which constitutes a seat for said valvedisk, anda spider in said port providing a valve stem guide and cast integrally'with said cage.

8. In a device of the character described, in combination with athermostat, a valve disk operatively connected thereto, and a tubularcage for said thermostat composed of an integrally continuous headportion and a base portion connected by a plurality of peripherallyarranged and longitudinally extending ribs, said head portion having avalve port, and a s ider .formed inte ally with said ribs and aving anintegraI centrally arranged tubular hub.

9. In a device of the character described, I

in combination'with a thermostat having a valve stem and a valve diskoperatively connected thereto, a member providing a seat for said valve,a centrally arranged hub forming a guide for said valve stem, andrelatively dee narrow arms connecting said hub with sai member togivemaximum strength for a minimum reduction inart area.

In testimony whereo I have signed this specification.

JEAN V. GIESLER.

